{"id":7264,"date":"2012-02-01T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/?p=7264"},"modified":"2012-08-28T17:03:14","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T21:03:14","slug":"the-optimal-level-of-jewishness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/01\/the-optimal-level-of-jewishness\/","title":{"rendered":"THE OPTIMAL LEVEL OF JEWISHNESS"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

If I didn\u2019t<\/strong><\/span> lead a klezmer band, I might not hire one.\u00a0 Yiddishe Cup might be too Jewish for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo Jewish\u201d means anything — or anybody — more Jewish than oneself.\u00a0 Example: Franz Rosenzweig, a German Jewish intellectual, said nothing Jewish — no matter how far out — was alien to him.\u00a0 I tried Franz\u2019s approach: I davened<\/em> (prayed) with the yeshiva buchers<\/em> in Boro Park, Brooklyn; drank schnapps at Telshe Yeshiva, Cleveland; and soaked in the mikvah <\/em>(ritual bath) in Cleveland Heights. \u00a0Also, I read Rabbi Sherman Wine\u2019s God-is-dead books.\u00a0 I covered a lot of humentashn<\/em> (bases).<\/p>\n

Would I hire a klezmer band?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

I did.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 I hired Yiddishe Cup three times — for my kids\u2019 b\u2019nai mitzvot<\/em> parties.\u00a0 (And I got a decent price.)<\/p>\n

1. For my daughter\u2019s bat mitzvah party, I also hired a troupe of hospital-therapy dogs for the cocktail hour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2. For my younger son, we had a DJ party, plus the klez band party. \u00a0My son organized the DJ party.\u00a0 He hired the DJ — himself.<\/p>\n

3. My older son had a trivia quiz, plus the klezmer band. That worked out well.\u00a0 He wound up on Jeopardy!<\/em><\/p>\n

Yiddishe Cup<\/strong><\/span> plays, at minimum, 15 minutes of Jewish music, and we use a dance leader, so everybody knows what to do.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the goys<\/em> like us best.\u00a0 Jews have hang-ups.<\/p>\n

I know about Jews and hang-ups.\u00a0 I have belonged to more shuls<\/em> than the Pope.\u00a0 I was Reform, then Conservative, then Reform, and now Conservative again.<\/p>\n

My friends and relatives don\u2019t always hire Yiddishe Cup.\u00a0 But I go to their parties and have a good time.\u00a0 The weddings are enjoyable; the bar mitzvahs are sometimes difficult.\u00a0 The DJ and his \u201cdance facilitators\u201d can be loud and obnoxious.\u00a0 The DJ announces, \u201cThe young adults will gather on the dance floor for a group photo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get in<\/strong><\/span> the picture yourself, DJ.\u00a0 You look 18.\u00a0 \u00a0And the “young adults” are not young adults, they\u2019re animals. \u00a0Stow the glow sticks.\u00a0 Bring out the cattle prods.<\/p>\n

The optimal level of Jewishness is Yiddishe Cup with therapy dogs.<\/p>\n

—<\/span><\/p>\n

Yiddishe Cup plays\u00a0 The Ark<\/span><\/a> 8 p.m. Sat (Feb.4), Ann Arbor, Mich. \u00a0 Here is an unrepresentative video from last year’s\u00a0 show:<\/span><\/p>\n